Past Couple Weeks...

Let's see.... So we've both been digging into our work a lot this past couple weeks. Time is just flying by. It seems like things are just starting to pick up and now we will be leaving.

This past weekend there was a Cyclone Nargis commemoration in memory of the victims and the survivors. The cyclone hit May 2nd 2008. Nearly 400,000 people have died. Many of them died after the Storm had passed due to lack of care, access to resources because the regime provided no aid themselves and denied foreign aid relief to enter the country in the first month or so after the storm, when it was needed most. When the aid was allowed to arrive, the regime sometimes stole resources for themselves or to sell on the black market. They have sometimes restricted NGOs access to certain areas especially ethnic areas. Some of the Burmese volunteers who went to aid the delta region where thrown in prison sometimes simply for burying the dead bodies. Others were jailed for reported information to foreign media which is a crime in Burma.

At the commemoration some of the students at Agape and CDC sang some songs about the cyclone. Some of those students were effected by the cyclone (family members died, being uprooted from their homes). Right around this time much more media has been focused on the cyclone and how the people are fairing currently. A report by John Hopkins University and MTC denouncing the regime and their poor response to the cyclone came into the political spectrum. It was pretty controversial because it was not a well rounded research paper and it's scope was too broad for its tiny sample size and large premise. They also suggested to have less NGO support inside Burma because it appeared that they had to work too much with the junta and some of the supplies we funneled through them instead of going to the victims. The NGOS had a mildly heated response mostly appearing fearful of losing funding and reporting they thought the report was erroneous on several levels. It was interesting. Just showing more of the dynamics on the border :)

There has been lots of media on Thailand lately around the Thai government protests,the Burma International Criminal Court meeting in Bangkok this past week, etc. Not to worry, not too much happening here in Mae Sot. There has been some fighting that has broken out about an hour south of us. The Buddhist Karen group has begun to sneak into Thailand to attempt to circle the KNLA camp located on the Thai-Burma border from behind and to surround them. Two Thai police were shot and a Thai civilian was wounded by a mortar when they were caught in the crossfire.

(Moms, we are completely safe here in Mae Sot, not to worry).

We have only one more border crossing to do in Mae Sot. Our last one went well. They had not gotten the thermo machines to check body temperature for the swine flu at this point, but we heard about them later from another volunteer. She had a fever, but they let her go anyway. We have a Thai border guard friend. We chatted with him a bit. He drilled us a little on where we work and we got a bit nervous at first, but he was really friendly and wanted us to teach him English. This second time through, he got on the phone and called someone and told them that he had a problem with some Americans... He handed the phone over to Ben and Ben discovered it was the border patrols past English teacher who lives in Chaing Mai Thailand who happened to also be from North Carolina. They chatted for a little bit and we were on our way.

Ben and I have been helping Aung Khine develop a social studies curriculum for the whole migrant community of Mae Sot (which includes around 60 schools and around 15,000 students of many ethnicity, religions, and varying level of resources). Aung Khine has been feeling stressed because he feels responsible for the future of the students and the community as a whole. He wants to break down isolating barriers and prejudices starting within the classroom, moving to the student's families, their communities, and finally uniting the Burmese migrant community as a whole. His main focus is centered around helping the children be prepared for democracy when the time comes. Often now many of the students of this generation are not aware of what it is like to have a democracy. It was been one of the most interesting projects we've worked on here. We've met some great people. The teachers want to foster a sense of responsibility and rights within the students by helping them become self aware, aware of others, and knowing their role within the community. The curriculum is including democracy, citizenship (which is a controversial topic in eastern countries, they feel that individualism is closely related to this idea and that that may lead to opposition and aggression in the community. We've been doing a lot of adjustment of words due to connotations), role models, advocacy, characteristics of a leader, moral development (another controversial topic), and a few other things. It's been a little flattering and a bit intimidating because much of Ben and my input has been included in their outlines. Aung Khine also develops a history outline which is also another touchy situation in light of the community being in the middle of conflict and the dynamics between ethnic minorities and the Burman majority, etc. Also they have to balance the Thai education requirements with their own Burmese ideas. We absolutely loving working on this project. We feel so privileged to be a part of it.

Ben and I also finally made it to our waterfall. 3rd attempt was a success. It was worth it for the views of the valleys from the mountain top, the butterflies, the vegetation, and of course the water fall. The hike to it was actually a bit long. Only 3 km but on a nearly vertical mountain path along the ridge line that had not been used a lot lately, so there were downed trees and slippery slopes. We walked along the creek bed until you get to the rocks and falls. It was so secluded and peaceful.

We've been enjoying our time getting to know volunteers and some of our local friends. We had a fun birthday party for a really nice friend. We ended up with cheesecake everywhere. That is now my new nickname since I started it. I can think of worse names.

I've made friends with a Burmese couple who will relocate to US in a couple months. He is a former political prisoner (he's very young) and she helps me translate and transcribe for SAW. They asks us last week to help them because one of their friends was in jail. There had been a miscommunication at the border market between a Thai shop owner and themselves. The police were called. The wife was jailed. The husband returned with a Thai speaker to explain the situation to the shop owner, but the shop keeper did not care, she just wanted money. She said she would drop the charges if they paid ten times what the DVD player was sold for. This was communicated through the police, so extortion of Burmsese by Thais is an excepted way of life here. We had to attend with them to the police station, with the store owner, and court to reduce their chances of getting taken advantaged of (they might be more ethical with a foreign face around). It was annoying since the police were actually being pretty fair: only charging her a fine of 6,000 Bhat, while the store owner kept charging 50,000 (more money than renting a place for a year) to drop charges. It was interesting to see the police and court system. The girl was really young and scared. Her husband was so worried. The owner went down to 25,000 baht but would not budge from that. Anyway I gave the husband some blankets and a little fake flower thing Ben had given me for Valentines day that said I love you for him to give to her and she started to cry. The police and the shop owner felt bad and the shop owner then decided to not testify against her. So Wednesday she had court and all went well.

Dinner time is a fun occasion here. We usually go out for dinner (its cheaper than cooking. a meal costs less than a dollar. boy and we going to miss the food!!!) with our friends and dinner has always been a really nice social/ community time here in Mae Sot. Our house is the central location and people like to drop by and visit when ever. It will be difficult to leave Mae Sot in a few weeks (although I can't wait to travel!!!)

Last night we went to AAPP for a celebration. Maggie Q from Mission Impossible 3(I don't remember the movie, but Ben said he could) and some others from the US Campaign for Burma came to visit Mae Sot. I always love to go to AAPP for a celebrations because the guys are so friendly and can be so talkative. I feel like I learn so much from them. They are interesting people. Ben and I are thinking about contacting the US Campaign for Burma when we get back to help maybe open a new chapter or to contribute to the campaign to free Burma when we return home. It would feel good to continue to work on this. I think it is going to be really hard to leave and to disengage. There is only one chapter in MN at Carlson business arena. I'd like to focus on St. Paul where most of the Karen live.